Rotary disk crop harvesting header with an auger member

ABSTRACT

A crop header has generally horizontal flail disks mounted for driven rotation about generally upright axes. A pair of conditioner rolls is mounted in a discharge opening. A crop converging system includes two over-shot auger elements defined by a common auger shaft with an auger flight carried thereon arranged generally longitudinal of the cutter bar so as to carry the cut crop longitudinally of the cutter bar to the entrance opening. Each auger element is arranged with a forwardmost tangent to the auger flight located behind the axes of the rotary disks and with an outer end thereof spaced outwardly of the respective end of the entrance mouth. The common auger shaft is driven by a common rotary drive with the bottom roll of the conditioner rolls. The augers terminate inwardly of the outer end of the cutter bar to locate the drive inboard of the end plates.

This application claims the benefit under 35 U.S.C. 119 of ProvisionalApplication Ser. No. 61/223,967 filed Jul. 8, 2009.

This invention relates to a crop harvesting header which has a cutterbar across the width of the header which carries and drives a pluralityof transversely spaced rotary disks and particularly to an improvedarrangement for transferring the cut crop inwardly from outer disks to adischarge opening.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Crop harvesting headers which use rotary cutters in replacement for themore conventional sickle knife systems have been available for manyyears. It is well known that such rotary cutters include a cutter bar orgear train which provides the main structural and drive communicationcomponents of the cutter. The cutter bar provides a series oflongitudinally spaced vertical drive members each of which drives arespective one of a plurality of cutting disks at spaced positions alongthe cutter bar. The disks are mounted for rotation about a vertical axisstanding upwardly from the cutter bar. The disks carry at a point ontheir outer edge a plurality, generally two, of flail type blades whichrotate with the disk around the vertical axis in a cutting action.

The construction of the cutter bar itself including the suitable geartrain is well known and a number of different designs are availablewhich can be used by a person skilled in this art.

Examples of such rotary type cutters are shown in the followingdocuments.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,272,859 (Pruitt) issued Dec. 28, 1993 discloses amower/conditioner including a cutter bar and rotating disks feeding to arear discharge opening containing a pair of conditioning rollers. Theoutermost disk carries a generally cylindrical impeller in the form ofan upright cylindrical cage. In front of the discharge opening is aseries of disks arranged in counter-rotating pairs.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,463,852 (O'Halloran) issued Nov. 7, 1995 and U.S. Pat.No. 5,433,064 issued Jul. 18, 1995 (Schmitt) assigned to Hay and ForageIndustries of Hesston both show a construction of such a rotary cuttersystem in which there is a series of the cutter disks at spacedpositions across the cutter bar with, at each end, two of the cutterdisks extend beyond a central area in front of a discharge opening. Inthis arrangement the two end disks are driven by a mechanical drivesystem. The two end disks each carry a rotary transfer element in theform of a series of posts arranged at the periphery of a cylindersurrounding a vertical axis standing upwardly from the disk. Thetransfer elements act to carry the crop material which is cut by thedisks inwardly toward the discharge opening. A conventional cropconditioner in the form of a pair of counter-rotating rollers is mountedacross the crop discharge opening.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,158,201 (Pruitt) issued Dec. 12, 2000 also assigned toHay and Forage Industries discloses a modification to the above 852 and064 patents of HFI where a crop transport roller is added in the cropdischarge opening and is arranged to carry crop up to the nip of theconditioner rollers.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,581,362 issued Jun. 24, 2003 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,718,743issued Apr. 13, 2004 (Rosenbalm) assigned to Deere and Company bothdisclose a rotary cutter system which has two end disks outboard of thecentral discharge opening with a conditioner arranged at the dischargeopening for receiving the cut crop and providing a conditioning action.Over the end cutters is arranged an impeller system.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,768,865 (Rosenbalm) issued Jun. 23, 1998 assigned toDeere and Company discloses a rotary cutter system which has two enddisks outboard of the central discharge opening with a conditionerarranged at the discharge opening for receiving the cut crop andproviding a conditioning action. The conditioner can be either of aflail type or of a fluted roller type.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,852,921 (Neuerberg) issued Dec. 29, 1998 to Kuhndiscloses impellers behind a row of cutting disks.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,809,488 (Neuerburg) issued Mar. 7, 1989 assigned to Kuhndiscloses a rotary cutter system which has a frusto-conical cage as theimpeller on an end disk where a drive shaft extends into the top of thecage.

EP 358,045 (Ungruh) assigned to Niemeyer Sohne GmbH published Nov. 3,1993 discloses a mower which has at least four cutting disks arranged intwo pairs rotating in the same direction and feeding to the center.Above each disk carries a cylindrical impeller which has a surfacerunning inwardly to carry the crop towards the center. In the regionbetween each of the disks of each pair is a further cylindrical impellerwhich assists in transporting the crops to the center.

German 32 24 170 (Mortl) published Dec. 29, 1983 discloses a headerhaving a discharge opening behind the outermost cutters of a group whichincludes four cutters. The group is arranged in two pairs with each pairrotating in opposite directions. Thus the outer cutter of the grouprotates inwardly. Outboard of this cutter is provided a further cutterwhich also rotates inwardly as shown by the arrows. This reference alsoincludes a pair of impellers, each mounted on a respective one of thetwo outer cutters which act as a conveying device for carrying the cropinwardly. The impeller is generally an upwardly tapered element oftriangular cross section.

EP 0 016 661 (Maier) published Nov. 12, 1986 and assigned to Deutz Fahrdiscloses a cutter bar formed by a series of cutting disks where the endtwo disks at one end each carry a respective cylindrical impeller forcarrying the cut crop to a discharge opening where there is located aconditioner.

German 35 01 133 (Schulze-Selting) published Jul. 17, 1986 also assignedto Deutz Fahr discloses a cutter bar formed by a series of cutting diskswhere the end disk at one end carries a respective cylindrical impellerfor carrying the cut crop to an opening and there is provided anintermediate suspended impeller over the next disk where the suspendedimpeller is frusto-conical.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,330,982 (Vissers) issued May 25, 1982 and assigned toMultinorm discloses a series of rotary cutters with a pair ofconditioning rollers which extend transversely or laterally across themower narrower than the cutting zone and located in a discharge opening.An auger which forms a large center gathering auger behind the rotarycutters provides a flight on the auger defining two auger elements, oneat each end, and moves upwardly and rearwardly from the cutting plane tothe nip to convey the crop cut by the cutting disks to the nip. Thecutters are arranged in three pairs with each pair rotating in oppositedirection so as to tend to feed the material between the pair. Behindthe pairs is located an auger type converging system which carries thecut crop over the auger tube while tending to move the crop materialinwardly to the discharge opening. The overshot auger is mounted acrossthe entire cutting width of the machine and is journalled in the sidepanels. The drive for the auger is located outside of the cutting zone.No stripper or rear pans are used to prevent crop wrapping and escape.No other feed devices such as drums are use in conjunction with theovershot auger.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,224,163 (Gantzer) issued Jan. 13, 1981 and assigned toKuhn discloses a series of rotary cutters arranged in pairs with eachpair rotating in opposite direction so as to tend to feed the materialbetween the pair. On top of the end pair is located a vertical belt typeconverging system with an end roller coaxial with the end cutter and asecond vertical roller spaced inwardly and rearwardly from the endroller so that the belt carries the cut crop inwardly to the dischargeopening.

EP 0,524,668 (van der Lely) published Jan. 27, 1993 and assigned to VanDer Lely discloses a series of rotary cutters arranged in pairs witheach pair rotating in opposite direction so as to tend to feed thematerial between the pair. Behind the end pair is located a rotary cropdisplacing member which carries the cut crop inwardly to the dischargeopening. This is formed by a plurality of tines which extend radiallyfrom a horizontal shaft mounted along the line of travel and above thecutters. The end disk also carries a drum type impeller.

U.S. Pat. No. 2,906,077 (Hale) issued Sep. 29, 1959 disclosesconditioner rollers in front of which is mounted a rotating roller whichrotates to feed crop upwardly and rearwardly into the nip. Forwardly ofthe roller is located a sickle blade type cutter.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,014,324 (McCarty) issued Dec. 26, 1961 discloses a pairof conditioner rollers feeding into a nip therebetween. A roller islocated in front of and below the nip of the conditioner roller androtates in a direction to feed crop into the nip.

Canadian 2,166,671 (Savoie) published Apr. 6, 1997 discloses a disccutter and a conveyor roller which feeds into the nip between a pair ofconditioning rolls located in a discharge opening behind and narrowerthan the cutter.

US published Patent Application 2005/0126142 (Rosenbalm) now U.S. Pat.No. 7,165,381 assigned to Deere discloses three cage type impellersarranged across the outermost three disks where the bottom disk of theimpeller is formed as a frusto-conical member converging upwardly andinwardly to the cage bars.

The 995 disk mower of Deere as disclosed in US published PatentApplication 2008/0016837 (Rosenbalm) has a converging system of the typeshown in the above patent of Rosenbalm which acts to carry the crop tothe discharge opening where the conditioner when provided is located.When the conditioner is omitted, a vertical converging roller is mountedimmediately inward of the outer edge of discharge opening with atextured outer surface to transport the crop material inwardly of thewidth of the discharge opening. A second roller is also provided whichhas its axis inclined upwardly inwardly across the top of the swath soas to attempt to act to compress the side edges of the swath downwardlyand inwardly for improved consolidation. This arrangement is designedfor an 8 or 10 disk machine but is ineffective at providing a properlyconsolidated swath of a required width.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,739,609 (Meier) published Apr. 26, 1988 discloses aconditioner rotatably arranged around a horizontal axis extendingsubstantially across the width of the mowing rotors and arranged withits forward edge immediately behind the axes of the rotors. Theconditioner includes a shaft with left and right pitched auger flightswhich join at approximately the longitudinal center of the shaft so thatthe cut hay is directed into a single narrow swath in the center behindthe conditioner. Conditioning tools are secured along the outer edge ofthe auger flights and the conditioner is rotated in a direction causingan overshot movement of the hay from the mowing rotors.

British Patent 1,597,276 assigned to Multinorm BV published Sep. 3, 1981discloses a tractor drawn rotary agricultural mower which has transverseauger behind the cutting rotors working inside a guard to carry the cutcrop toward one end of the header to form a swath. The auger rotates ina direction so that the material passes underneath the auger and isconfined by a pan to move upwardly and rearwardly.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,340,876 issued Mar. 11, 2008 which corresponds to USPublished Application 2008/0066440 filed Sep. 15, 2006 and publishedMar. 23, 2008 and to Canadian application 2,559,353 discloses anarrangement which provides impellers of an hour glass shape arranged atthe outer cutter disks. The disclosure of this document is incorporatedherein by reference.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,454,888 issued Nov. 25, 2008 which corresponds to USPublished Application 2008/0066441 filed Sep. 15, 2006 and publishedMar. 23, 2008 and to Canadian application 2,559,217 discloses anarrangement which provides a transfer roller between the cutter disksand the conditioning rollers where the transfer roller is of the samediameter as the bottom roll and carries high ribs preferably forwardlyinclined for an aggressive action on the crop. The roller is mountedwith its axis above the cutting plane and its uppermost edge of the ribsat or above the axis of the bottom roll. The disclosure of this documentis incorporated herein by reference.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,356,982 issued Apr. 15, 2008 which corresponds to USPublished Application 2008/0066439 filed Feb. 15, 2007 and publishedMar. 23, 2008 and to Canadian application 2,578,907 discloses anotherarrangement which provides impellers of an hour glass shape arranged atthe outer cutter disks. The disclosure of this document is incorporatedherein by reference.

US Published Application 2009/0071116 filed Jul. 23, 2008 and publishedMar. 23, 2009 which corresponds to Canadian application 2,639,032discloses an arrangement where a swath converging apparatus is mountedin the mouth of the opening and is formed by two pairs of upstandingcylindrical rollers rotatable about their axes in a direction to carrythe crop inwardly of the discharge opening. The pairs are mounted onrespective top and bottom plates which pivot about the axis of the outerroller with the latter extending forwardly to overlap a floor plate ofthe cutter bar. The disclosure of this document is incorporated hereinby reference.

In many cases the discharge opening contains a conditioner for engagingand breaking or fracturing the crop to improve drying action as theswath is left in the field. Such conditioners can be of a number ofdifferent types but one common type uses a pair of fluted rollers whichform a nip so that the crop is bent as it passes between the flutes.

In a brochure issued by AGCO on Jul. 15, 2008 of the 9190 and 9192ROTARY DISK HEADERS is disclosed on page 6 the use of small short “rearaugers” at each end of the cutter bar which are defined as “locatedbehind the crop cages which act to reduce crop build up behind thecutter bar. This allows crop to easily flow into the conditioner rolls,especially when cutting less than a full head width.” This arrangementis shown and claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,726,108 (Pruitt) issued Jun. 1,2010.

In Published US application 2008/0256920 published Oct. 23, 2008 byAaron Yanke is disclosed a mower conditioner in which auger flightelements are located at the ends of the cutter bar for carrying the cropmaterial inwardly to the pair of conditioning rolls.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is one object of the invention to provide a crop harvesting header ofthe type having a series of rotary cutting disks on a cutter bar.

According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a cropharvesting header comprising:

a header frame arranged to be transported across ground on which thereis a standing crop for harvesting;

a cutter bar mounted on the header frame across a width of the headerfor movement across the ground for harvesting the standing crop;

a plurality of generally horizontal cutter disks mounted on the cutterbar at positions spaced transversely of the header with the disks beingmounted on the cutter bar for driven rotation about respective generallyupright axes spaced along the cutter bar;

each disk having mounted thereon at a position spaced outwardly from therespective axis thereof at least one cutter blade such that rotation ofthe disk about its axis causes a standing crop to be cut by the blade asit rotates around the axis on the disk;

a common auger member extending across the header behind the cutterdisks and including at each end a respective auger element arrangedgenerally longitudinal of the cutter bar so as to carry the cut croplongitudinally of the cutter bar behind the cutter disks, each augerelement including a rotating surface with a flight on the surface;

the common auger member being arranged to rotate in a direction with afront face thereof turning upwardly and rearwardly;

a conditioning system behind the common auger member;

the common auger member being arranged such that a tangent to the top ofthe rotating surface is at a height no greater than 20 cms (7.5 inches)above the cutting plane of the cutting blade.

Preferably the conditioning system includes top and bottom rollers witha nip therebetween and the auger member is arranged such that a topmosttangent to an auger flight thereof is located above the axis of rotationof a bottom roll of the rollers and below the axis of rotation a toproll of the rollers for effective feeding from auger into theconditioner rollers.

Preferably the common auger member is arranged with a forwardmosttangent to an auger flight thereof located at or behind a rearmostextent of the cutter disks.

Preferably the common auger member has a length less than that of thecutter bar.

Preferably the common auger member has a diameter of the rotatingsurface which is less than 20 cms (7.5 inches).

Preferably the common auger member has a diameter of the rotatingsurface which is less than 15 cms (6.0 inches).

Preferably the common auger member is mounted at each end in a supportbearing and includes at least one additional intermediate bearingsupport.

Preferably the common auger member has a center section with an augerflight thereon and wherein the auger flight at each end has a smallerpitch than the auger flight of the center section.

Preferably the common auger member has a center section with an augerflight thereon and wherein the auger flight at each end has two starts.

According to a second aspect of the invention there is provided a cropharvesting header comprising:

a header frame arranged to be transported across ground on which thereis a standing crop for harvesting;

a cutter bar mounted on the header frame across a width of the headerfor movement across the ground for harvesting the standing crop;

a plurality of generally horizontal cutter disks mounted on the cutterbar at positions spaced transversely of the header with the disks beingmounted on the cutter bar for driven rotation about respective generallyupright axes spaced along the cutter bar;

each disk having mounted thereon at a position spaced outwardly from therespective axis thereof at least one cutter blade such that rotation ofthe disk about its axis causes a standing crop to be cut by the blade asit rotates around the axis on the disk;

a common auger member extending across the header behind the cutterdisks and including at each end a respective auger element arrangedgenerally longitudinal of the cutter bar so as to carry the cut croplongitudinally of the cutter bar behind the cutter disks, each augerelement including a rotating surface with a flight on the surface;

the common auger member being arranged to rotate in a direction with afront face thereof turning upwardly and rearwardly;

wherein the common auger member is mounted at each end in a supportbearing and includes at least one additional intermediate bearingsupport.

According to a third aspect of the invention there is provided a cropharvesting header comprising:

a header frame arranged to be transported across ground on which thereis a standing crop for harvesting;

a cutter bar mounted on the header frame across a width of the headerfor movement across the ground for harvesting the standing crop;

a plurality of generally horizontal cutter disks mounted on the cutterbar at positions spaced transversely of the header with the disks beingmounted on the cutter bar for driven rotation about respective generallyupright axes spaced along the cutter bar;

each disk having mounted thereon at a position spaced outwardly from therespective axis thereof at least one cutter blade such that rotation ofthe disk about its axis causes a standing crop to be cut by the blade asit rotates around the axis on the disk;

a common auger member extending across the header behind the cutterdisks and including at each end a respective auger element arrangedgenerally longitudinal of the cutter bar so as to carry the cut croplongitudinally of the cutter bar behind the cutter disks, each augerelement including a rotating surface with a flight on the surface;

the common auger member being arranged to rotate in a direction with afront face thereof turning upwardly and rearwardly;

wherein the common auger member has a center section between the augerelements with an auger flight thereon along at least a part of thelength thereof and wherein the auger flight at each auger element has asmaller pitch than the auger flight of the center section.

According to a fourth aspect of the invention there is provided a cropharvesting header comprising:

a header frame arranged to be transported across ground on which thereis a standing crop for harvesting;

a cutter bar mounted on the header frame across a width of the headerfor movement across the ground for harvesting the standing crop;

a plurality of generally horizontal cutter disks mounted on the cutterbar at positions spaced transversely of the header with the disks beingmounted on the cutter bar for driven rotation about respective generallyupright axes spaced along the cutter bar;

each disk having mounted thereon at a position spaced outwardly from therespective axis thereof at least one cutter blade such that rotation ofthe disk about its axis causes a standing crop to be cut by the blade asit rotates around the axis on the disk;

a common auger member extending across the header behind the cutterdisks and including at each end a respective auger element arrangedgenerally longitudinal of the cutter bar so as to carry the cut croplongitudinally of the cutter bar behind the cutter disks, each augerelement including a rotating surface with a flight on the surface;

the common auger member being arranged to rotate in a direction with afront face thereof turning upwardly and rearwardly;

wherein the common auger member has a center section between the augerelements with an auger flight thereon along at least a part of thelength thereof and wherein the auger flight at each auger element hastwo starts.

In the main embodiments described and used typically as preferredarrangements, the auger elements defined above form part of a commonauger member. Such a common auger member forms a large center gatheringauger behind the rotary cutters. Such a common auger member does notprovide a pair of axially spaced apart, transversely extending,rotatable augers. Such a common auger member does not provide stubaugers which are spaced apart.

The common auger member may include a common roller across its fullwidth defining a support surface of the common auger member. However themember may also be formed without a roller and may be connected atpositions along its length by a shaft or other connection without theroller being continuous. While the roller, if present, is preferably ofa constant diameter, this is not necessarily so and the diameter mayvary. The roller may carry auger flights at all positions along itslength or one or more portions may be bare of the flight

While the common auger member extends across the header substantially tothe ends and extends across the discharge opening, it is not essentialthat it be formed in one piece and it can have two or more separatesections which are independently supported and/or independently driven.

While the embodiments described herein use the common auger member, theinvention also contemplates and certain aspects include within theirscope that the auger elements are separate independent items spacedapart and do not include a portion extending across the full width infront of the discharge opening.

The cutter bar may be formed a single piece driven from one end or maybe formed in two or more sections.

Where impellers are used, these are typically of the type shown inpreviously mentioned U.S. Pat. No. 7,340,876 issued Mar. 11, 2008 whichcorresponds to US Published Application 2008/0066440 filed Sep. 15, 2006and published Mar. 23, 2008 and to Canadian application 2,559,353 of anhour glass shape. Such impellers are commonly of the type usingangularly spaced bars but can also be of the type which are formed bysolid drums which may or may not have external crop engaging element sformed on the outside surface of the drum.

The conditioner defined herein may be or the type using a pair of flutedrollers defining a nip. However other types of conditioner can also beused. Also in some cases the header can be used without a conditioner sothat the crop material is deposited directly onto the ground orcollected.

While in most cases it is desirable to carry out conditioning of thecrop in the discharge opening, in some case no conditioning of the cropis required on the header so that the crop is merely transferred by theauger elements to the discharge opening and is deposited in thedischarge opening into a swath without utilizing any conditioningelements within the discharge opening. The swath may be converged withinthe discharge opening using the arrangement shown in US PublishedApplication 2009/0071116 filed Jul. 23, 2008 and published Mar. 23, 2008which corresponds to Canadian application 2,639,032. The disclosure ofthe components in the discharge opening of this application areincorporated herein by reference.

The frame as defined herein can include both structural beams and othersuch frame elements and may also include panels and sheets which do notcontribute to the structural strength of the header.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an isometric view of a header according to the presentinvention.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the end of a header similar to that of FIG.1.

FIG. 3 is a front elevational view of the end of the header of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view of the header of FIG. 2 taken along thelines 4-4.

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of an alternative embodiment of the header ofFIG. 1 showing a larger number of disks and showing a double start augerelement and showing an arrangement with no conditioning.

FIG. 6 is a top plan view of an alternative embodiment of the header ofFIG. 1 similar to FIG. 5 showing an alternative disk rotation pattern.

FIG. 7 is a top plan view of an alternative embodiment of the header ofFIG. 1 similar to FIGS. 5 and 6 showing a further alternativearrangement which uses a construction with two outermost disks havingimpellers and an auger element behind the third disk.

FIG. 8 is a top plan view of alternative embodiment of the header ofFIG. 1 similar to FIGS. 5, 6 and 7 showing a further alternativearrangement of 10 disks.

FIG. 9 is a cross sectional view along the lines 9-0 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 10 is a cross sectional view along the lines 10-10 of FIG. 1.

In the drawings like characters of reference indicate correspondingparts in the different figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In FIG. 1 is shown schematically a header for attachment to conventionalswather tractor of the well known type having driven ground wheels andrear castor wheels.

An alternative arrangement can be of the pull-type for towing behind atractor and the construction of the hitch and support wheels of such adevice is well known to a person skilled in this art.

A front support assembly of the tractor carries the header 14 includingleft and right lift arms which carry the header in a floating actionacross the ground along skid plates (not shown) of the header. Theheader includes side walls 15 and 16 forming part of a frame 17 attachedto the conventional transport system of the tractor. The frame carriestop covers 18 which support a front skirt 19 in front of the cutter bar.

The frame 17 includes a main transverse beam 17A which is attached tothe tractor. The main beam carries the side walls 15 and 16. The sidewalls each comprises a vertical wall extending forwardly to a front edge23 in front of the cutter bar 24. The side wall is vertical and thefront edge 23 lies in a vertical plane of the side wall so as to confinecrop material to the interior of the header between the side walls forcutting action effected by the cutter bar 24.

Within the cutter bar 24 is provided a gear train (not shown) of meshinggears carried on suitable bearings so as to provide communication ofdrive of a number of vertical shafts carried on the cutter bar each forrotating a generally horizontal disk 26 about a vertical axis of theshaft. The disks are substantially identical. The disks are generallyelliptical in shape so that a length between two ends 26A and 26B (FIG.2) is significantly greater than a distance between the side edges in adirection at right angles to the length. At each of the ends 26A and 26Bis mounted a respective one of a pair of flails 27 each for pivotalmovement about a flail mounting pin 27A. The mounting pins are arrangedat the ends and thus at the maximum extent of the disk so that theflails project outwardly beyond the edges of the disk for rotation in acommon horizontal cutting plane generally parallel to the plane of thecutter bar in a cutting action.

The disks are intermeshed so as to driven synchronously and they arearranged at 90° phase difference so that adjacent pairs of the disks areat 90° offset as they rotate to avoid interference between the disks andthe blades 27 carried thereby.

The cutter bar of this general construction is of a conventional natureand many examples of a commercial arrangement of this type are availablein the market place. Thus the details of the cutter bar and its mountingare well known to one skilled in the art and further details can beobtained from such commercial devices.

The cutter bar 24 is wider than a discharge opening 30 with an entrancemouth 30A defined in a back sheet 30B forming a vertical rear panel ofthe header behind the cutter bar. A conditioning system 31 is mounted inthe discharge opening 30. Thus the crop material passes over and betweenthe disks when cut and also must be converged from the full cut widthinto the entrance mouth 30A of the discharge opening 30.

In FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 only one end of the header is shown but it will beappreciated that the opposite end is identical and symmetrical to theend shown.

The discharge opening has side walls 32 which are vertical and paralleland extend rearwardly from the mouth 30A and which confine the cropmaterial to pass through the discharge opening over a width less thanthe width of the header so that the side walls 32 are spaced inwardlyfrom the respective end walls 15 and 16 of the header. The cropconditioning system 31 is arranged to span the width of the cropdischarge opening so that the width of the conditioning system is equalto the width of the discharge opening. The conditioning system comprisesa top roller 34 and a bottom roller 35 which have flutes 36 arranged ina meshing arrangement so that the crop material passing through thedischarge opening passes through a nip 37 between the conditioning rollsand is discharged from the rear of the conditioning system as a swath ofmaterial to be discharged onto the ground or to be collected asrequired.

The disks 26 mounted on the cutter bar 24 include a series of diskswhich are located in front of the discharge opening 30. Outward of thesedisks and either side is provided a pair of outer disks indicated at 261and 262 with the disk 262 outermost. These disks are arranged to rotateinwardly as indicated by arrows D so that the front extremity and theblade carried thereby rotates in the direction indicated at the arrows Das shown in FIG. 2 to carry the crop material which is cut by thosedisks inwardly toward the discharge opening.

The disk 262 only and not disk 261 carries an impeller 40 mounted on thedisk so as to be carried thereby and driven thereby and so as to bedirectly co-axial with the disk 262. A hanging impeller can be used toreplace this impeller also co-axially arranged with the correspondingdisk 262 or the axis of the impeller may be offset from the axis of thedisk. It will be appreciated that the disk and the impeller co-operateto assist in carrying the crop material inwardly toward the dischargeopening and to resist the crop material from moving rearwardly over thedisks 262 to the rear bulkhead panel 30B which could cause collection ofthe crop material and eventual blockage of the system.

The arrangement and construction of the impeller is described in detailin the above US Published Application 2008/0066439 and Canadianapplication 2,578,907, the details of which are incorporated herein byreference and to which reference may be made for those details.

The top conditioning roller 34 is located above the bottom conditioningroller 35. These define between them the nip 37 through which the cropmaterial is controlled to pass. The top conditioning roll 34 and thebottom conditioning roll 35 are parallel and arranged such that the croppasses through the nip 37 between the top and bottom conditioning rolls.The top and bottom conditioning rolls are arranged such that the nip 37is raised above the common cutting plane and is located behind the disks26. The top and bottom conditioning rolls 34, 35 each comprising acylindrical body 77, mounted for rotation about an axis 78, 79 thereof.In one example, on the cylindrical body 77 is mounted a series oflongitudinally extending, angularly spaced flutes 36 arranged such thatthe flutes 36 of the top roll 34 mesh with the flutes of the bottom roll35 in the conditioning action, as is well known.

However the present invention is also applicable to conditioning rollsof the type which have no flutes or ribs so that the conditioning actionis effected by a high crushing force between two plain rollers. Therollers can be smooth or may include grooves or indentations which arenot intended to mesh in the crushing action. Crushing conditioner rollsof this type are well known to persons skilled in this art and differentdesigns may be selected and used as will be known to such persons.

In addition the present invention can be used in an arrangement in whichthe conditioning rollers are omitted so that no conditioning occurs inthe discharge opening as shown in FIG. 5.

In a ten or twelve disk mower, in front of the discharge opening thereare located eight of the cutter disks arranged in four pairs of diskswith each pair arranged to rotate in opposite directions such that thecrop tends to pass between the pair of disks.

Narrower machines of the type typically used in Europe or othercountries where smaller machines are more suitable may have only threepairs of disks in front of the discharge opening.

The pairs of the cutter disks in front of the discharge opening includea first end disk 261 located in line with the first end wall 32 of thedischarge opening and a second end disk (at the opposite end notillustrated) located in line with the second end of the dischargeopening. That is an imaginary line 32A extending forwardly from the end32 intersects the disk 261. This is typically located at a positionthereon spaced inwardly from its axis but can be outside the axis of thedisk 261. The axis and main body of the end disks 261 are mountedoutboard of the imaginary line 32A of the opening so that the nextadjacent disks define a cutting circle which is closely adjacent or atthe line. Thus the majority of the end disks 261 are outboard of therespective line 32A.

The end disk is arranged to rotate so that a front of the first disk 261moves outwardly of the respective end of the discharge opening as markedat direction arrow D1. A first outer disk 262, which is mountedoutwardly of the end line of the discharge opening and outwardly of theend disk rotates in the same direction as the disk 261 as indicated atD2. A third disk 263 inward of the disk 261 rotates in a directionopposite to the disk 261 so as to form a pair with the disk 261 suchthat at least some of the crop tends to be swept into a first zonebetween the first pair of disks 261, 263 and to pass through that zoneas shown schematically at arrow 264.

A crop converging structure 59 is located behind the disks 261 and 262and tends to move the crop inwardly toward the discharge opening 30. Thecrop converging structure 59 comprises an auger element 60.

It will be noted that the two outer disks 261 and 262 both rotate in thedirection of the arrows D1 and D2 so as to turn inwardly toward thedischarge opening. This causes additional crop to be passed into thezone between the disks 261 and 263.

As best shown in FIG. 2, the end disk 262 is located immediatelyadjacent the end wall 16 of the header. The end wall 16 is connected toa connecting wall 61 which is curved around the path of the cuttingblade 27 of the end disk 262 so as to extend inwardly and rearwardlyfrom the end wall 16 to a recessed end wall 62 spaced inwardly from theend wall 16. Thus the wall 62 is located at a position spaced inwardlyfrom the end of the header. Behind the end wall 62 is provided the rearbulkhead 30B which extends inwardly at right angles to the end wall 62up to the entrance mouth 30A of the discharge opening 30. The rear wall30B is spaced rearwardly from the rear edges of the path of travel ofthe cutting blades by a distance equal to the length of the recessed endwall 62. This provides a region for the auger element 60 which acts as aconverging member for converging the crop behind the end cutters 261 and262.

The auger element 60 comprises an auger tube 63 and an auger flight 64carried on the tube. In the embodiment of FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, the augerflight 64 is a single auger flight shaped such that rotation of theauger tube in the direction D4 acts to lift the crop upwardly and overthe auger element as an overshot auger while at the same time thehelical angle of the flight 64 acts to carry the crop on top of theauger tube inwardly toward the discharge opening 30.

As best shown in FIG. 4, the rear wall 30B behind the auger elementincludes an upper part 30D which curves upwardly and forwardly toconnect to a top wall 65 of the header construction which extends overthe cutting area and over the cutter bar 24. Also the rear wall 30Bunderneath the auger 60 curves forwardly in a part cylindrical shape asindicated at 30E so as to wrap around the outer edge of the periphery ofthe flight 64. This portion 30E thus forms a pan underneath the augerand extending to a forward edge 66 which is located just behind the reartip of the blade 27. Thus the upper part of the auger and the front ofthe auger are exposed to the crop and the pan extends only to the rearand underneath.

The auger flight 64 has smooth outer edges so that it provides nocutting or grasping action on the crop allowing the auger flight tomerely act as a transfer member carrying the crop inwardly as thehelical flight rotates.

Typically the diameter of the tube 63 can lie in the range 100 to 200mm. The height of the auger flight would lie in the range 25 to 50 mm.In a typical example therefore the tube is of 150 mm diameter and theflight is of 40 mm height. The tangent at the bottom of the flight asindicated at T1 is located at a height slightly below the cutting planebut is the bottom edge of the blade. However this position may beslightly raised so that it is located directly at the cutting planedefined by the sharpened edge or it may be even slightly above thatcutting plane. The bottom tangent T2 of the tube is above the cuttingplane. The forwardmost tangent T3 of the flight is located substantiallyat the rear edge of the blade 27.

The tube 63 is continuous along the header from a first end 67 at theend wall 62 to a second end (not shown) arranged as a mirror image tothe arrangement illustrated in the figures. Thus the tube is a singleelongate member which rotates around an axis 68 driven by a drive pulley69. Bearings for the auger tube 63 are shown at 71 and are carried onthe end wall 62.

The auger flight 64 is arranged so that it causes movement of the cropengaging the tube 63 in the direction of the arrow D4. The flight 64extends from the end 67 through to a second end 73 of the flight locatedinward of the end wall 32 of the discharge opening and thereforeinwardly of the entrance mouth 30A of the discharge opening. At the end73 the flight is bent to form a second flight section 74 which isarranged at a much shallower helical angle so as to extend substantiallylongitudinally of the tube 63 in the central area of the dischargeopening 30. The flight section 74 is arranged at a very shallow helicalangle so as to provide little or no transverse movement in this area andto act instead as a feeding flange acting to engage the crop and tendingto assist the movement of the crop into the discharge opening and intothe nip 37 between the conditioning rollers.

As shown, therefore, in FIG. 2, the auger element is located behind therear edge of the blades 27 of the cutting disks within the recessed areadefined by the recessed end wall 62 and the rear wall or bulkhead 30B.The cut crop thus moves rearwardly from the cutting action of the bladesso that portions of the crop engage onto the auger element andparticularly the auger tube 63 so the flight carries the materialinwardly and rearwardly in the direction of the arrow D4. Thus the augerelement is located substantially behind the end impeller 40 on the enddisk 262. The front of the auger may be behind, tangent to or overlapthe rear of the cutting path.

The location of the end 67 of the auger element at a position spacedinwardly from the end wall 16 allows the positioning of the driveelements and bearings well within the extent of the frame as defined bythe end wall 16. This area therefore provides space for the driveelements without the necessity for these elements projecting beyond theend wall 16. The transfer of the crop material to the discharge opening30 is effected by a co-operation between the rotation directions of thecutting disks 261 and 262 together with the operating action of theimpeller 40 and also the transfer action of the auger element itself.The auger element is located in front of the conditioning rollers sothat the auger element can extend to a position where the flight 64 islocated directly in front of the conditioning rollers allowing the cropmaterial to turn at an angle significantly less than 90° to enter thenip 37 between the conditioning rollers. Thus there are no sharp turnsinvolved in the movement of the crop as it is transferred from the areabehind the disks 261 and 262 into the area of the nip 37.

As shown in FIG. 4, the drive to the bottom roller is effected by a beltor chain 80 which is driven from a drive member 81. The same drivemember carries a second pulley or drive sprocket which drives a secondbelt or chain 82 acting to drive the pulley 69. In this way a simpledrive arrangement for the conditioning roller system and for the croptransfer system defined by the auger elements can be located simplybehind the cutter bar in the area within the bounds of the side walls 15and 16 using simple components which are resistant to wear andbreakdown.

As shown in FIG. 4, a topmost tangent to the auger flight indicated atT4 is located above the axis 79 of the bottom roll of the conditioningrollers but below the axis 78 of rotation of the top roll of theconditioning rollers so as to be located immediately adjacent the nip 37for effective feeding of the material from the top of the tube into thenip 37.

A stripper member 83 is mounted on the rear wall 30B at positionsoutwardly of the entrance mouth 30A and projects forwardly from the rearwall 30B so as to provide a forwardmost edge in contact with orimmediately adjacent the outer periphery of the flight as the flightrotates. The stripper member thus provides a surface which prevents cropfrom entering the area between the auger flight and the pan 30E. Thisarrangement therefore helps in preventing any wrapping of the croparound the auger elements and particularly the auger tube. The augerflight 64 terminates at the end 73 which is located just inside themouth 30A. However the auger flight 64 can extend to a position closelyadjacent the middle of the header that is midway across the conditioningrollers. In this area the auger flight acts to assist in spreading thematerial from the area outside the discharge opening, across thedischarge opening so as to tend to even out the crop material across thewidth of the discharge opening.

As shown in FIG. 5, there is shown an alternative arrangement of theheader which is a twelve disk header so that, starting at the outer end,there are disks 301, 302, 303, 304, 305 and 306 extending to the center307 of the header with a symmetrical arrangement of disks extending tothe opposite end (not shown). The disks 301 and 302 lie wholly outwardof the discharge opening 30 and the imaginary line 308 at the side ofthe discharge opening. In this embodiment only the end disk 301 carriesan impeller 40. The disk 303 is arranged so that it intersects inimaginary line 308 with the axis of that disk 303 lying outside theline. In this arrangement the disks 301 and 302 turn inwardly as shownby arrows D5 and the disk indicated at 303 rotates in a directionoutwardly of the header toward the end as indicated at arrow D6. Therotation of the disk 303 in the outward direction causes the rear of thedisk to move inwardly and thus cooperate with the auger 60 in carryingthe crop inwardly behind the disks to the discharge opening. A moreaggressive auger element is provided which has a two-start flight asindicated at 63A and 63B. This arrangement of double flight ormulti-start flight may used on all arrangements and is shown to increasecapacity.

As shown in FIG. 6, there is shown a further alternative arrangement ofthe header which is a twelve disk header with disks 401, 402, 403, 404,405 and 406 on one side and a symmetrical arrangement on the other side.Thus there are additional disks 401 and 402 outward of the dischargeopening 30. Again the end disk 401 only carries an impeller 440. In thisarrangement the disks 401 and 403 turn inwardly and the disk 402 rotatesin a direction outwardly of the header toward the end disk 401 carryingthe impeller 40. Thus all of the disks across the header are arranged inco-operating pairs tending to force crop between the pairs as the pairsrotate inwardly toward one another. In this arrangement the crop fedbetween the disks 401 and 402 must be carried by the auger flight on theauger element 60 inwardly to the discharge opening without theassistance of the rotation of the disk 403.

As shown in FIG. 7, there is shown a further alternative arrangement ofthe header which is a twelve disk header with disks 501, 502, 503, 504,505 and 506 on one side and a symmetrical arrangement on the other side.Thus there are additional disks 501 and 502 outward of the dischargeopening 30. In this case there are three impellers 540, 541 and 542where the impeller 540 is located on the end disk 501, the impeller 542is located on the next disk 502 and the impeller 541 is a hangingimpeller between the two impellers 540 and 542. In this arrangement thedisks 501 and 502 turn inwardly and the disk indicated at 503 rotates ina direction outwardly of the header toward the end disk 501 carrying theimpeller 540. A short auger element is located such that it startsbehind the disk 502 and extends to the entrance mouth 30A. Thus in FIG.7 there is a five stream pattern of material passing from the disks intothe conditioning system or the discharge opening. This includes streams510, 511 and 512 together with two further streams (not shownsymmetrical to the streams 510 and 511 on the other side of the centerstream 512. In these streams the material from three disks 501, 502 and503 enters at stream 510, the material from two disks 504 and 505 entersat stream 511 and the material from two disks 506 and the next adjacentdisk enters at stream 512. These streams tend to balance the materialacross the width of the discharge opening for improved operation of themachine.

In FIG. 1 is shown an isometric view from the front of the header ofFIG. 7. In this arrangement however the auger elements extend to aposition close to the end wall 15, 16 as shown in FIG. 6 rather than ofthe shorter construction shown in FIG. 7.

Thus in all of the construction shown, there is provided auger elementswhich extend to or commence at a position close to but spaced inwardlyof the respective end wall and extend to a position located inwardly ofthe sides of the discharge opening. While the auger elements can beindividual elements as described previously, it is much preferred thatthey form part of the common auger member extending across the dischargeopening. This allows the auger member to be driven from one end and thusto provide common rotation to both elements which are located behind theoutboard disks to effect the inward movement. Thus as shown for examplein FIG. 6, each auger element 60 carries an auger flight constructionwhich is of a multi-start construction so as to provide two separateflight members 60A and 60B side by side across the auger element. At aposition 60C, the auger flights 60A and 60B change in pitch from arelatively short pitch of the order of 6 to 9 inches per 360 degreerotation around the support tube to a much longer pitch at flight member60D of the order of 18 to 24 inches per 360 degree rotation around thesupport tube, or even longer.

The position 60C where the conversion occurs can be at the mouth 30A orit is preferred to be slightly inward of the mouth. Locating theposition 60C inward of the mouth acts to cause the crop behind the disksto be carried inwardly beyond the edge of the discharge opening into thedischarge opening for an improved spreading of the crop material acrossthe width of the discharge opening.

In the center section at the discharge opening, the common auger membercarries the auger flights 60D at longer pitch so that there is littletendency to move the crop transversely but the flights act to feed thecrop rearwardly from the cutter disks to the conditioning rollers. Thusthe auger element rotates in a direction with a front face thereofturning upwardly and rearwardly. The flights in the center section mayhave parts which are parallel to the axis so that they do not extendhelically.

While the common auger element extends across the header substantiallyto the ends and extends across the discharge opening, it is notessential that it be formed in one piece and it can have two or moreseparate sections which are independently supported and independentlydriven.

In FIG. 8 is shown a further rotation pattern of a 10 disk machineincluding disks 601 to 610. These are arranged in pairs with each pairrotating toward one another so as to form streams 620 to 624 where eachstream includes the material from two disks. This again balances thematerial cross the conditioner 31. The streams 620 and 624 are carriedfrom the end pair of disks across the auger elements 630 and 631.

Turning now to the cross sections of FIGS. 9 and 10, these showbasically the same construction as shown in FIG. 4 but the constructionis modified in a number of respects as described herein.

It will be noted that the common auger member 550 with a tube 551 and aflight arrangement 553 is arranged with a forwardmost tangent T5 to theauger flight 553 thereof located at or behind a rearmost extent of thecutter disks also lying on the line T5. Also it will be noted that thecommon auger member 550 has a diameter of the roller portion 551 whichis less than 20 cms (7.5 inches) and typically less than 15 cms.

Further it will be noted that the header frame provides, on each side ofthe discharge opening, the components 581 mounted behind the augerelement 550. These comprise the pan 582 which extends from a front edge583 underneath the auger element 551 at approximately the 7.00 positionaround the element to an upper edge 571 at which the pan includes aportion 572 which extends at an angle upwardly and forwardly to an upperwall 573 closing the chamber behind the cutter bar.

Thus the pan forms a part-cylindrical surface 582 at a diameter slightlylarger than the outer edge of the flight 553 so as to cooperate with thelower rear quadrant of the auger element 550. Thus the feed pan isshaped for minimal clearance relative to the auger element. Thus thefeed pan extends to a front end behind the cutter disks at or just infront of the axis of the auger element at the 6.00 or 7.00 position andto a top end at a height approximately equal to the axis of the augerelement at the 3.00 position.

The pan 582 extends forwardly to its front edge 583 which is fastened toa flange member 591 attached to a structural support beam 592 of thecutter bar behind the gear case 593 of the cutter bar.

A stripper rib or stripper member 584 is located at a positionapproximately at the 1.00 position and extends along the full length ofthe auger element at that part thereof outwardly of the dischargeopening at a position rearwardly and downwardly of the topmost tangentT6 of the auger element and defines a surface extending outwardly awayfrom the surface of the respective auger element approximately at rightangles to the tangent to the point of intersection with the augerflight.

The auger member 550 is lowered relative to the embodiment of FIG. 4 sothat a tangent T5 to the top of the rotating surface is at a height H nogreater than 20 cms (7.5 inches) above the cutting plane of the cuttingblade.

There is provided for each auger element a guide surface 585 in front ofthe portion 572 of the pan 582 and located outwardly to a respectiveside of the discharge opening. This is located so that material from theauger element is discharged onto the guide surface by the strippermember 584 for carrying crop discharged from the auger element inwardlytoward the discharge opening. The guide surface 585 forms the base of achannel member 586 with the stripper member 584 forming one side and asecond inclined surface 587 forming an opposite side. The guide surface585 and the channel 586 extend along the auger element in the areaoutwardly of the discharge opening to an inner edge 588 (FIG. 1) at thedischarge opening in front of the conditioning rolls of the conditioner31. The channel 586 is mounted on an adjustable slide support 589(FIG. 1) so that the position of the edge 588 is adjustable inwardly andoutwardly of the side of the discharge opening. Typically the edge islocated inward of the edge of the discharge opening but the amount ofprojection of the edge 588 into the discharge opening can be adjusted sothat the point of discharge of the material stripped from the augerelement can be adjusted. The channel 586 and the surface 585 are locatedin front of the nip of the conditioner rolls and are therefore movableto different positions along the nip.

The stripper member 584 thus extends along the auger element at aposition rearwardly and downwardly of a topmost tangent of the augerelement and defines a surface extending outwardly away from the surfaceof the respective auger element at an angel of the order of 60 degreesrelative to the guide surface 585.

The roller 551 of the common auger member 550 is divided at a centerline 521 into two separate portions on respective sides of the centerline. This allows a bearing assembly 522 to be provided at the centerline 521 which acts to provide support for the center of the augermember from the cutter bar. The bearing assembly comprises a centerplate 523 carried on a bracket 524 from the flange 591 of the beam 592which provides a bearing 524 for a shaft 525 which is connected at eachend to a respective one of the portions of the common auger member oneither side of the plate 523 at the center line 521. Thus load from thecenter of the common auger member 551 is transferred to the cutter barand is carried thereby to reduce flexing of the common auger member.

As the crop passes over the auger member 550 in the central area at thecenter line 521, the presence of the support plate and the bearing whichis wholly behind the front face of the roller part of the common augermember does not interfere with the passage of the crop. The bearing isdesirable in some cases where the common auger member is longer. Inother cases more than one bearing can be used at spaced positions alongthe member so that the load is transferred to the cutter bar structureat locations other than the center.

Since various modifications can be made in my invention as herein abovedescribed, and many apparently widely different embodiments of same madewithin the spirit and scope of the claims without department from suchspirit and scope, it is intended that all matter contained in theaccompanying specification shall be interpreted as illustrative only andnot in a limiting sense.

1. A crop harvesting header comprising: a header frame arranged to betransported across ground on which there is a standing crop forharvesting; a cutter bar mounted on the header frame across a width ofthe header for movement across the ground for harvesting the standingcrop; a plurality of generally horizontal cutter disks mounted on thecutter bar at positions spaced transversely of the header with the disksbeing mounted on the cutter bar for driven rotation about respectivegenerally upright axes spaced along the cutter bar; each disk havingmounted thereon at a position spaced outwardly from the respective axisthereof at least one cutter blade such that rotation of the disk aboutits axis causes a standing crop to be cut by the blade as it rotatesaround the axis on the disk; a common auger member extending across theheader behind the cutter disks and including at each end a respectiveauger element arranged generally longitudinal of the cutter bar so as tocarry the cut crop longitudinally of the cutter bar behind the cutterdisks, each auger element including a rotating surface with a flight onthe surface; the common auger member being arranged to rotate in adirection with a front face thereof turning upwardly and rearwardly; aconditioning system behind the common auger member; the common augermember being arranged such that a horizontal top tangent to the rotatingsurface is at a height no greater than 20 cms (7.5 inches) above thecutting plane of the cutting blade.
 2. The header according to claim 1wherein the conditioning system includes top and bottom rollers with anip therebetween and wherein the auger member is arranged such that atopmost tangent to an auger flight thereof is located above the axis ofrotation of a bottom roll of the rollers and below the axis of rotationa top roll of the rollers for effective feeding from auger into theconditioner rollers.
 3. The header according to claim 1 wherein thecommon auger member is arranged with a forwardmost tangent to an augerflight thereof located at or behind a rearmost extent of the cutterdisks.
 4. The header according to claim 1 wherein the common augermember has a length less than that of the cutter bar.
 5. The headeraccording to claim 1 wherein the common auger member has a diameter ofthe rotating surface which is less than 20 cms (7.5 inches).
 6. Theheader according to claim 1 wherein the common auger member has adiameter of the rotating surface which is less than 15 cms (6.0 inches).7. The header according to claim 1 wherein the common auger member ismounted at each end in a support bearing and includes at least oneadditional intermediate bearing support.
 8. The header according toclaim 1 wherein the common auger member has a center section with anauger flight thereon and wherein the auger flight at each end has asmaller pitch than the auger flight of the center section.
 9. The headeraccording to claim 1 wherein the common auger member has a centersection with an auger flight thereon and wherein the auger flight ateach end has two starts.